I would imagine that Buddy must have been jealous of the adulation of those famous rock drummers like Bonzo, Ringo...the list goes on and on, while Buddy toiled in relative obscurity...

Photon, being in your 40s, you have to know that saying Rich toiled in relative obscurity is seriously overstating. He was a regular on all the major talk shows of the sixties and early seventies, back when American television had only three stations. This included his recurring open door role on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show (the most celebrated entertainment venue on American television). He even starred in a CBS variety show called Away We Go with George Carlin of all people, where he actually did comedy, and was good at it. In other words, Rich was seen by millions of people almost every week, for at least twenty years. Did LZ ever perform on television? I'm not saying they didn't. I just don't remember.

Honestly, (at least in America) Bonham was only well known by a singular (although large and enthusiastic) demographic. All the saying to the contrary doesn't change that...and has been refuted many times on this and other threads. In fact, he was not even the most famous rock drummer at the time (although I agree with most of you that he was the best of that group). Starr, Appice, Watts and even guys like Buddy Miles were far better known. Moreover, people forget how popular Chicago was. They also were filling football stadiums and appearing on television. This made Serraphine a big deal indeed.

I mean this in all sincerity. Rich's name recognition was probably second only to Ringo's during the period in question. There were people who knew about Rich because of the television alone...and a lot of these people knew nothing of his drumming... but knew him. Back then, Bonham was the biggest to you. But I doubt your parents had heard of him. At the same time, I'll bet your parents, your grandparents, and all the uncles you only see at Christmas had heard of Rich, and chances are good that none of them cared much for jazz. Now that's fame.